South Africa have received an absolute hiding here, the introduction of Nathan Hauritz completely transformed the game. None of the batsmen were really comfortable against him, who was unafraid to toss the ball up and got the rewards. James Hopes also did a sterling support job, stifling the runs with his unerring accuracy. Mitchell Johnson did his bit, breaking the Smith and Gibbs stand, and consistently maintaining a scorching pace.
Australia had also struggled initially when they batted but they managed to string together a bunch of partnerships, something South Africa were unable to do. Australia bowled well but a number of South African wickets were soft dismissals In hindsight, Boucher at No. 6 seems a place too high. Another sore point for South Africa will be 91 runs they leaked in the last 10 overs, after Australia were under the cosh at 197 for 5 at the 40-over mark.
At the post-match presentation, Smith says: "Australia probably got 20-30 more, and the wicket slowed up in the evening, the ball didn't really come along". He also praises Hussey's knock and Hauritz's bowling
Michael Hussey is the Man of the Match. When asked about his slump, he says: "It happens to every player, hopefully it doesn't last too long. " He also says it's been amazing to be in South Africa as part of Australia's Test series winning squad.
Ponting also says the wickets was slower than he expected, and is full of praise for Hauritz.
Both captains say the timing of the Powerplays is proving to be a bit of a headache.
So the trend of the results following the same pattern as in the series in Australia continues. Join us to see whether it extends to Sunday's game in Centurion as well.
This is Siddarth Ravindran signing off, thanks to everyone for your mails. See you on Sunday.
M Morkel c Laughlin b Hauritz 2 (24m 10b 0x4 0x6) SR: 20.00
Last man Makhaya Ntini comes to the crease with South Africa only halfway to the target
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Ricky Ponting is confident that Australia's series-ending victory in Johannesburg will give the team momentum heading into next week's one-day contest against Pakistan
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Neil Johnson, writing in the Witness , says the performances of South Africa's newer players, such as Wayne Parnell and Roelof van der Merwe, and the relative failure of Australia's less experienced players to make an impact, proved critical in
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